Darcy Is Always First

Lauren Whitman, MA, is a counselor and faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF), where she has served for a decade. She also serves as the developmental editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling and is the author of A Painful Past: Healing and Moving Forward and A Biblical Counseling Process. Whitman, her husband, and their two children make their home in the Philadelphia area.Joe Hox was raised on a farm in southern Iowa where he doodled whenever he wasn't spading thistles or bottle-feeding calves. Everyone knew by his crooked hay rows that he would choose art over farming. Joe taught art for twelve years before becoming a full-time illustrator. He is the illustrator for the Good News for Little Hearts series, as well as Who Is Jesus? 40 Pictures to Share with Your Family, written by his wife, Kate.

“In Darcy Is Always First, Whitman helps children navigate the perennial problem of sibling conflict. In doing so, she helps children be rightly motivated to prefer one another because we all belong to one another. I cannot wait to get this book, snuggle up with my girls, and read it with them. Like others in this series, it will become a well-worn read for us all.”Jonathan D. Holmes, Executive Director, Fieldstone Counseling; author of Grounded in Grace: Helping Kids Build Their Identity in Christ“Sibling relationships are special but need to be fostered. Darcy Is Always First is a book for children grappling with self-centered tendencies that strain relationships. This story reminds us that instead of looking out for our interests, which causes quarrels, God tells us we belong to one another. Families, please read this together! You will catch a sweet vision of what showing Jesus’s love to one another looks like.”Darby Strickland, CCEF Faculty; author of Something Scary Happened“Having three kids, we are always looking for helpful stories to point our kids towards wisdom. Darcy Is Always First will occupy a place on our bookshelf, ready to be pulled out when sibling rivalries take over. (And it doesn’t hurt that it’s really cute!)”Nate and Kate Brooks, Associate Professor, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Counselor & Support Group Leader, Courage Christian Counseling“We can’t give enough attention to the greatest commandment and the example of Jesus in considering others first. Lauren Whitman’s book works great for helping us talk about these things with our little ones, and to hear it ourselves!”Michael Gembola, Author of Anxious about Decisions: Finding Freedom in the Peace of God“Darcy Is Always First takes me back to when my younger brother shocked me with the exclamation ‘You always have to be first!’ This story is a great tool for going in the ‘back door’ of sibling rivalry as a means of helping children recognize how they are hurting others and also gives the offended child a platform for expressing their feelings. I look forward to sharing it with our great-grandkids.”Sharon W. Betters, Executive Director, MARKINC; coauthor of Aging with Grace: Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture